Briar Rose

Usually the stories we read involve a naive girl who experiences the harsh realities of the world and changes her perception of her role in her own story. But in Briar Rose, the princess is the static character. Her story is a continual repetition of the same plot over and over with minor changes that usually leave her worse off than when the story began. This time it's the prince, the male presence in the story, whose view of the world changes over the course of his journey. The prince first views the princess as someone he could use to make a name for himself. She's a means to an end, someone to be viewed solely in a sexual light and who would inevitably thank him for freeing her from her captivity. But as he becomes trapped in the briars he begins to lose faith in his journey and questions the point of what he's doing. He starts to view the princess as something of a companion instead of an object, someone who could appreciate his struggle. While I'm hoping the princess will eventually become less static as the book goes on, I actually found this role reversal refreshing.